med school and commute

[doctoresse]

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Hey everyone,

I have been grateful enough to be accepted to med schools and have started debating which school to go to. One thing is that I probably won't be living on campus since my future hubby works one hour away from both schools (they're in opposite states and we live in the middle). So we're thinking of renting or maybe buying a house half an hour away from the school I'd choose. I would then either drive 30 minutes or take the train 20 minutes (without traffic). I was just wondering if this type of commute can affect your performance at school, has anyone been thinking about this or in the same situation? Does anyone know someone who had quite a commute to med school but still managed? I know I can do it, I just want to hear that other people did fine before me 😳

 

[Hurricane95]

Don't worry, I think you'll do fine...

I will be driving an hour through miami morning rush hour traffic and then grabbing the metro for a 20-30 minute ride to jackson memorial hospital. The trip home will take just as long so ill be commuting a total of three hours daily... 😱 At least I can read on the train, assuming im not surrounded by weird people and watching my back during the ride, which is very probable.

 

[bsylvia]

Hey everyone,

I have been grateful enough to be accepted to med schools and have started debating which school to go to. One thing is that I probably won't be living on campus since my future hubby works one hour away from both schools (they're in opposite states and we live in the middle). So we're thinking of renting or maybe buying a house half an hour away from the school I'd choose. I would then either drive 30 minutes or take the train 20 minutes (without traffic). I was just wondering if this type of commute can affect your performance at school, has anyone been thinking about this or in the same situation? Does anyone know someone who had quite a commute to med school but still managed? I know I can do it, I just want to hear that other people did fine before me 😳

My commute each way to school is an hour and fifteen minutes on a normal day. I'm an M1 and have done pretty well in all of my classes so far, but the commute definitely requires an adjustment. You definitely don't get to socialize with your classmates as much as one might like, and other leisure activities go by the wayside. A longer commute is certainly possible, it just requires a lot of prioritizing!

 

[DrKitty]

I have the same dilemma. My future husband most likely won't be working in the area where my school is, and I may have to commute for maybe 30-36 min one way. I wonder if that's gonna affect my level of performance in school, and I'd hate to miss all of the socializing with my classmates 🙁 If I choose to live on campus, I won't see my husband more than once a week. I just don't know what to do.

 

[doctoresse]

I have the same dilemma. My future husband most likely won't be working in the area where my school is, and I may have to commute for maybe 30-36 min one way. I wonder if that's gonna affect my level of performance in school, and I'd hate to miss all of the socializing with my classmates 🙁 If I choose to live on campus, I won't see my husband more than once a week. I just don't know what to do.

I hear you, if I was to live on campus I probably wouldn't see my hubby other than on weekends. But it seems to be possible, others have a longer commute than we will and they seem to be doing fine. I probably won't socialize as much as I want but my priorities are my hubby and med school so it's ok if I can't go out as much. 😉

 

[ubcredfox]

I have the same dilemma. My future husband most likely won't be working in the area where my school is, and I may have to commute for maybe 30-36 min one way. I wonder if that's gonna affect my level of performance in school, and I'd hate to miss all of the socializing with my classmates 🙁 If I choose to live on campus, I won't see my husband more than once a week. I just don't know what to do.

If it were me, I would very seriously hate a situation where I only got to see my wife once a week. That sounds ghastly...

 

[deuist]

Don't worry, I think you'll do fine...

I will be driving an hour through miami morning rush hour traffic and then grabbing the metro for a 20-30 minute ride to jackson memorial hospital. The trip home will take just as long so ill be commuting a total of three hours daily... 😱 At least I can read on the train, assuming im not surrounded by weird people and watching my back during the ride, which is very probable.

Why in the world would you put yourself through that? Go live in Jackson Towers or find one of the near-by apartment complexes. You could walk to campus. Or... you could go to the Boca campus. My drive to school each day is only six minutes with no parking problems.

 

[Hurricane95]

ew...people actually LIVE in jackson towers? Damn. Apartments near jackson aren't much nicer either. I'd rather live at home with the fam. in a nice area and the price is right (free) so I guess ill just have to suck it up and deal with the long commute.

 

[Hurricane95]

On another note, DrKitty don't do that to yourself...a 30 min. drive is nothing. Dont worry its not that long of a trip...I dont know, to me it just seems real bad to not see your SO (spouse much less) more than once a week. Living on campus when you are so relatively close to it anyway seems counter-intuitive. But oh well, best wishes for whatever you decide.

 

[opstandzon]

I would NOT live away from my husband during medical school. Why would you live in a situation where he couldn't be there to support you during the trying years of school. When you're married, you're both in medical school even if the other person is working.

The commute will be fine. Besides, more and more programs are recording lectures so you can listen to them outside of class. You can use the commuting time to study. Or if you're learning a foreign language, it's a great time to listen to those Pimsleur CDs. I also like to listen to books on tape - it's a nice way to feel like you're still fitting pleasure reading into your busy schedule.

I commute 1-1.5 hours each way to work. It's stressful and tiring, but 30 minutes won't be nearly as bad.

 

[njbmd]

Hey everyone,

I have been grateful enough to be accepted to med schools and have started debating which school to go to. One thing is that I probably won't be living on campus since my future hubby works one hour away from both schools (they're in opposite states and we live in the middle). So we're thinking of renting or maybe buying a house half an hour away from the school I'd choose. I would then either drive 30 minutes or take the train 20 minutes (without traffic). I was just wondering if this type of commute can affect your performance at school, has anyone been thinking about this or in the same situation? Does anyone know someone who had quite a commute to med school but still managed? I know I can do it, I just want to hear that other people did fine before me 😳

Hi there,
I attended medical school in a city where I had a 40-minute subway ride or a 25-minute commute by car. I found that I preferred to take the subway because I could preview for my classes or just relax or sleep and people watch(wore shades so I could do this discretely). When I got to school, I was ready for class and I didn't have to worry about my car.

I resisted the urge to listen to lecture tapes (too boring) or study anything too heavily. I also found that I could study late at school and still relax on the subway as I was going home. The only downside was that I had to get up earlier than the folks who lived on campus (no rolling out of bed with a wet head and getting to class in five minutes). Sometimes I would get off at a the stop before mine and walk the rest of the way for exercise.

If the weather was bad, the subway was a life-saver. If you hate to commute, then forgo the distance. For me, it worked but I really would not have wanted to be much further away from school than I was.

njbmd 🙂

 

[Emergency!]

I commute about 40 miles one way. Total time is about an hour, by the time I park and walk to the building. Overall, it's not too bad. My commute is mostly interstate, so that helps. During anatomy, the commute home offered some much needed time to decompress. I also listened to a couple of books on CD. I would definitely choose the living with spouse and commuting 30 minutes over living closer to campus. I am able to socialize with my classmates over lunch, or I can always stay in town for dinner occasionally in the evening.